Canadian teen Lyric Dubee brings ‘Broken Dreams’ to NXNE fest Special

Toronto
-
Looking like a cross between a hay tossin’ farm boy and a surfer dude, Lyric could easily be mistaken for another Bieberlike. Until he starts playing and singing and it comes to mind this is a whole different thing.

Vive la difference is very much a factor in the way Lyric relates to the music. Asked about players he admires, he cites John Mayer, Buddy Guy and Jimi Hendrix

“What they have in common is that each has something different, brought something new. They were about trying new things”

At age 9 Lyric began taking guitar lessons using his father’s guitar. For Lyric's 10th birthday he received his first guitar and from then on, there was no looking back. Within the first year Lyric had played in his school talent show and landed a spot in the Barrie New Music Festival. Blessed with the ability to be comfortable playing in public, Lyric left no doubt he was bound for a career in music, with his parents 100% behind him.

After 4/12 years of playing gigs large and small, paid and for charities, Lyric Dubee has dropped his debut album and is gearing up to take it to the people. The seven songs making up the Broken Dreams album were written a year ago, with bits and pieces of some going back even further.

Evidently, song writing, like performing in public, comes naturally to Lyric.

“Once I knew I was going to record, I just sat down and wrote a bunch of tunes. Some I already had in mind and some just came up. When it came time to go in the studio I had 20 songs. For the album, we were looking for songs with a similar structure and that flowed together."

Stylistically, it’s all about the varied styles Lyric is at home with, the best moments coming from a blues/pop place. One such, “You Instead’ about texting and driving, is now being used by the Ontario Provincial Police in their campaign against distracted driving.

As to which of the album’s songs are personal faves, he says: “It would be between “Vamp”, for its great rhythm structure and “Your Friends” which has a wicked guitar solo”.

The subject material is age appropriate; “Vamp” was inspired by the ‘Twilight’ movie series and other songs have spring from video games and the usual teen ponderings. The title track stands out in this regard for its mature appreciation of the fragility of it all; life, love, dreams.

For Sunday’s show, Lyric's backed by a three-piece band and while the bulk of the set will highlight the material off Broken dream, the rest will be a mix of Lyric’s fave covers and some unrecorded material being given the live test.